Letter 241

To Eutherius. (360?) These were certainly not the promises you made when you left us to take up your governorship -- silence, and making our affairs worse. No, the words you spoke then were, as Demosthenes says, "far removed from that -- fine words, worthy of friendship." But "the deeds that should have followed are nowhere to be found," as the same orator says elsewhere. I now fear that my letters may count for nothing with you, and that you have caught the same disease as the admirable Andronicus. Office persuaded him too to forget his friends. He governed admirably, I must say the truth, but his treatment of us might well deserve reproach. So now you must grant this favor, to lighten the earlier offenses and give us nothing to complain about -- or rather, everything to be satisfied with. For a grievance is dissolved by a final favor given at the right moment. You know this, if you know Thucydides -- unless you have forgotten that friend too. What then do we ask? Consider how it falls within the law. The councilors of Arce are enrolling Carterius among their number, though there is no grounds whatever for obligating him to civic liturgies. He is studying rhetoric with us in Antioch. His father is a priest; and if you look into his grandfather, you will find a former magistrate. Most important of all, the family's household has been formally exempted by the very council itself, as these documents show -- have them read aloud. Do not so far disregard justice. The people of Arce must not be allowed to renounce their obligations and then pick them up again at will. Let them understand that it is equally wrong to fail to claim what is theirs and to seize what is not. Let them shrink from nothing -- but through you let the law's authority hold firm for us. It is the mark of shameless men to want to overreach; it is the mark of a judge to let no one be more powerful than the law. If Carterius were drowsy -- if he were going to appear in the chorus of fools -- I would say little about the claims now being pinned on him. But to destroy so promising a growth, to knock out of his mind what has already been gathered there, which is exactly what the tumult of public business tends to do -- that is neither holy nor pious. You yourself hold office thanks to your ability to speak. It stands to reason, then, that you should defend those who serve Hermes [god of eloquence] and show that you honor the very skills that brought you to where you are. If you are willing, add my own name to the reckoning. Do not dishonor this letter just because it is a letter, able to suffer any slight in silence. When you look at these words, imagine you are also looking at me -- that man who was everything to you, the one at the festival of Dionysus. Grant the young man his right to devote himself to his studies, and free his household from the extortion.

Εὐθηρίῳ. (360?) Οὐ ταῦτα μέντοι παρ’ ἡμῶν ἀπαίρων ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπι- σχνοῦ, σιγὴν καὶ τὸ ποιήσειν ἡμῖν χείρω τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλ’ ἦν πολὺ τούτων ἀφεστηκότα τὰ τότε λεγόμενα, φησὶ Δημο- σθένης, καλὰ καὶ φιλίᾳ πρέποντα, τὰ ἔργα δὲ τὰ ἀπὸ τούτων οὐδαμοῦ, πάλιν <ὁ> αὐτός πού φησιν. ὡς ἔγωγε νῦν μὴ οὐδέν μοι δυνηθῇ τὰ γράμματα καὶ πεπονθὼς ἦς ὅπερ Ἀνδρόνικος ὁ καλός. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνον ἔπεισε τὸ ἄρχειν ἀγνοῆσαι τοὺς φίλους, ἄρχοντα μὲν ἀξίως ἐπαίνου, δεῖ γὰρ τἀληθῆ λέγειν, τὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς δὲ αὐτῷ τάχ’ ἂν αἰτίαν ἔχοι. ἀλλά τοι δεῖ νῦν ταύτην δοῦναι τὴν χάριν, ὅπως τι κουφί- σαις τῶν πρότερον καὶ μὴ πάντα ἐγκαλῶμεν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅπως μηδὲν ἐγκαλῶμεν. λύεται γὰρ ἔγκλημα χάριτι τελευταίᾳ και- ρὸν ἐχούσῃ, καὶ τοῦτο οἶσθα, εἴπερ οἶσθα Θουκυδίδην, εἰ μὴ καὶ τούτου γε ἐπελάθου τοῦ φίλου. τί οὖν αἰτοῦμεν καὶ σκόπει γε ὡς οὐκ ἔξω τῶν νόμων. οἱ τῆς Ἄρκης βουλευταὶ Καρτέριον εἰς αὑτοὺς ἐγγράφουσιν, ᾧ τὸ μὲν λειτουργεῖν οὐ δαμόθεν προσήκει, παρ’ ἡμῖν δὲ ἐπὶ λόγοις διατρίβει. ὅ τε γὰρ πατὴρ ἱερεὺς αὐτῷ τόν τε πάππον εἰ ζητεῖς, ἄρχοντα εὑρήσεις καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, ὑπ’ αὐτῆς τῆς βουλῆς τὴν οἰκίαν ἀφειμένην, ὡς δηλοῖ ταυτὶ τὰ γράμματα, κέλευε δὲ ἀναγινώσκειν. καὶ μὴ τοσοῦτον παρίδῃς <τὸ> δίκαιον μηδὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς Ἄρκαν οἰκοῦσιν ἔστω τῶν αὐτῶν ἀφίστασθαί τε καὶ πάλιν λαμβάνεσθαι, ἀλλ’ ἴστωσαν ὡς ὁμοίως ἄδικον τά τε αὑτῶν οὐ κομίζεσθαι τά τε οὐχ αὑτῶν αὑτῶν ποιεῖν. ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν μηδὲν ὀκνούν- των, ἡμῖν δέ γε διὰ σοῦ γιγνέσθω τὰ παρὰ τῶν νόμων ἰσχυρά. τῶν μὲν γὰρ οὐκ αἰσχυνομένων ἐστὶν ἐθέλειν πλεονεκτεῖν, δι καστοῦ δὲ μηδένα <ἐᾶν> εἶναι δυνατώτερον νόμου. καὶ μὲν ἔγεμεν ὕπνου Καρτέριος ἡ μὴ ἔμελλεν ἐν Μόρων φα- νεῖσθαι χορῷ, βραχὺς ἄν μοι λόγος ἦν τῶν νῦν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν παττομένων· βλάστην δὲ οὕτω γενναίαν διαφθεῖραι καὶ τὸ ἤδη συνειλεγμένον ἐκβαλεῖν τῆς διανοίας, ὃ πέφυκε ποιεῖν ὁ τῶν πραγμάτων θόρυβος, οὔθ᾿ ὅσιον οὔτ᾿ εὐσεβές. καὶ σύ τοι τὸ ἄρχειν ἔχεις ἀπὸ τοῦ δύνασθαι λέγειν εἰκὸς δή σε βοη- θεῖν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν καὶ φαίνεσθαι τιμῶντα τὰς ἀφορ- μὰς ἀφ’ ὧν ἐνταῦθα ἥκεις. εἰ Τε βούλει, καὶ τοὐμὸν προσ- λογίζου καὶ μὴ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀτιμάσῃς, ὅτι ἐστὶν ἐπιστολὴ πᾶν ἂν παθοῦσα σιγῇ. ἀλλ’ ὅταν εἰς τὰ γράμματα βλέπῃς, ἡγοῦ καὶ ἐμὲ βλέπειν ἐκεῖνον τὸν πάντα σοι, τὸν ἐν Διονύσου, καὶ τὸν νέον δοὺς τὸ νῦν εἶναι τοῖς λόγοις ἀπάλλαξον τοὺς οἰκέ- τας τῆς διαχειρίσεως.